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Random Survival Tip of the Day
All right, i'm bored and feel like procrastinating so here goes.
one of the things that happens to people who get lost in the woods is that they lose their sense of direction. you can find direction of travel (north, south, east and west) by using the sun, a stick and some patience.
find a flat clear area in the sun where you can stay undisturbed for approx 15-30 minutes. take a stick (approx. 3 feet/1meter) that is as straight as possible and stick it vertically into the ground.
mark the point on the ground where the tip of the shadow from the stick is. this will be your first marker.
approx. 30 minutes later mark the next position where the tip of the shadow is on the ground. draw a line from your first point to your second point.
you have now achieved your east-west axis (sun travels east to west). now draw a line intersecting (at 90 degrees) your newly created axis and you will have your north to south bearing. this will allow you to navigate to the direction you want to go.
------------------North
West---------------------------------East
------------------South
an easy way to remember which is which is the following saying: "Never, Eat, Shreaded, Wheat" (clockwise). that gives you North, East, South and West.
go try it sometime,
Hikin
one of the things that happens to people who get lost in the woods is that they lose their sense of direction. you can find direction of travel (north, south, east and west) by using the sun, a stick and some patience.
find a flat clear area in the sun where you can stay undisturbed for approx 15-30 minutes. take a stick (approx. 3 feet/1meter) that is as straight as possible and stick it vertically into the ground.
mark the point on the ground where the tip of the shadow from the stick is. this will be your first marker.
approx. 30 minutes later mark the next position where the tip of the shadow is on the ground. draw a line from your first point to your second point.
you have now achieved your east-west axis (sun travels east to west). now draw a line intersecting (at 90 degrees) your newly created axis and you will have your north to south bearing. this will allow you to navigate to the direction you want to go.
------------------North
West---------------------------------East
------------------South
an easy way to remember which is which is the following saying: "Never, Eat, Shreaded, Wheat" (clockwise). that gives you North, East, South and West.
go try it sometime,
Hikin
Comments
You can use this trick to gather dry firewood even if the wood on the ground is wet or rotten. Basically, you find a tree that's dead, but still standing and pull (or push) it down.
1. First, look for an area where you're likely to find dead trees. The ground is usually brown and the trees will have no needles on them.
2. Find a small to medium sized dead tree and push on it. You should be able to topple it with surprisingly little force. Some of the thinner trees can just be ripped right out of the ground with your hands.
3. (optional) Lift the tree above your head and let out a war cry. Make sure the whole forest knows how badass you are. You just pulled down an entire tree.
4. Break the thing up into firewood.
^Just something I've heard before, I dont ski or snowboard
when all the wood around you is wet, split the wood and it will burn. make feathers/shavings from the split wood to increase surface area for burning.
when you have enough "feather sticks" simply light with a match or lighter and away it'll go. you can throw larger pieces on as the fire goes and place wood around/over the fire for it to dry out.
the rule of threes places water at the 3rd highest priority only next to air and shelter.
rule of 3's:
3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
3 months without human/social contact
in many cases people will drink water that is questionable in quality (from a stream with gyardia and cryptosporidium) and become sick. symptoms from water borne infection can include but not limited to stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea.
top tip is to carry a package of water purification tablets with you (you can buy a pack of 30 tablets for around 15 bux which will purify 30L of water).
if your stuck without purification tablets you can use tincture of iodine from a first aid kit. usually iodine comes in a 2% solution. add 5 drops per 1L of water and let sit for 30 minutes. make sure to swoosh it around a bit in the bottle ever so often.
another way to purify water is using house hold bleach. add 2 drops of bleach for every litre of water. again swoosh it around a bit and let sit for approximately 30 minutes.
[make sure to pre-filter your water prior to using chemicals to purify it. a t-shirt, bandana, or a hand towel.]
the best and most secure way to purify your water is through boiling. the new nalgene steel bottles work well placed over a fire, just remember to remove the plastic lid. the kleen kanteens also work really nicely for boiling water in over a camp fire.
if your stuck without a metal container to boil your water in there's still hope. wood/clay bowels can be fashioned in the woods using a knife and coals from a fire. add water to bowel and throw in hot rocks from the fire into your bowl (careful some rocks will explode or shatter when they contact with the water). once you've thrown in enough hot rocks it'll come to a boil and the water will be safe to drink.
remember only a rolling boil is required to achieve purification.
*a water tight container can also be fashioned from a piece of birch bark for the above purpose.
Another tip I've heard is to dry tinder by keeping it in your pocket while you walk around.. but that never seemed to work very well.
keeping tinder dry in your pocket is easy when you've got it in a ziploc bag :p
a really good thing to keep with you is some strips of rubber from old bike tires (inner tubes). they light up even when wet and burn for a long time. if you've got a bic lighter with you and some rubber inner strips you should be able to light a fire in the worst downpour.
most important tool you'll ever take with your or want to have on you when your stuck in a survival situation is a knife.
over nighters usually involve cans of chilli and cans of beer :D
if you youtube "bear grylls fake" you'll see his bs
climbing a tree to orient yourself is a dumb idea as you risk serious injury. there are many other ways to find your direction in the woods
a trick when your stuck in the desert and your thirsty is to actually suck on a rock/pebble. the arabs used to do this in the desert and it helps generate moisture in the mouth. more of a comfort thing than actually prolonging your life.
On the note on buttons, I have a old military issue field uniform (like circa WW2) and you can boil the buttons and eat them. Makes like a thick stew. Although it is very disgusting